在1951年，前蘇聯領導人約瑟夫．史達林（Joseph Stalin）的醫生勸他減少工作量，以保持健康。但這名醫生卻被史達林指控是間諜，並將他逮捕。這位曾以謊言羅織罪名、逼迫多人的暴君不願面對事實，並且以他慣用的手法除掉那告訴他事實的人。但事實不容辯駁，史達林於1953年去世。

先知耶利米說了可怕的預言而被逮捕，還被鐵鍊鎖著（耶利米書38章1-6節，40章1節）。他把即將會發生在耶路撒冷的事，一五一十地告訴猶大王西底家，並且說：「求你聽從我對你所說耶和華的話」（38章20節），若拒絕向圍城的敵軍投降，只會招致更嚴重的後果。耶利米還發出警告：「人必將你的后妃和你的兒女帶到迦勒底人那裡。你也不得脫離他們的手。」（23節）

西底家拒絕接受事實，不願聽從吩咐。最後巴比倫的士兵捉住了王，殺害他的兒子，並焚燒了耶路撒冷（39章）。

在某種意義上，人人都會面臨西底家的困境，我們就像被圍困在自己的罪與錯誤抉擇的圍牆內。我們通常還會迴避那些指正我們的人，從而使事情變得更糟糕。其實，我們只需順從耶穌的旨意，祂說：「我就是道路、真理、生命；若不藉著我，沒有人能到父那裡去。」（約翰福音14章6節）

In 1951, Joseph Stalin’s doctor advised him to reduce his workload in order to preserve his health. The ruler of the Soviet Union accused the physician of spying and had him arrested. The tyrant who had oppressed so many with lies couldn’t abide the truth, and—as he had done so many times—he removed the one who told him the facts. Truth won anyway. Stalin died in 1953.

The prophet Jeremiah, arrested for his dire prophecies and kept in chains (Jeremiah 38:1–6; 40:1), told the king of Judah exactly what would happen to Jerusalem. “Obey the Lord by doing what I tell you,” he said to King Zedekiah (38:20). Failure to surrender to the army surrounding the city would only make matters worse. “All your wives and children will be brought out to the Babylonians,” Jeremiah warned. “You yourself will not escape from their hands” (v. 23).

Zedekiah failed to act on that truth. Eventually the Babylonians caught the king, killed all his sons, and burned the city (ch. 39).

In a sense, every human being faces Zedekiah’s dilemma. We’re trapped inside the walls of our own lives of sin and poor choices. Often, we make things worse by avoiding those who tell us the truth about ourselves. All we need to do is surrender to the will of the One who said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).